This Week in SABR: January 11, 2013

The Baseball Writers’ Association of America failed to elect a single player to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2013 voting results, which were announced Wednesday. Former Houston Astros star Craig Biggio received 68.2 percent of the vote, nearly 7 percent below the 75 percent threshold required for Hall of Fame induction. You can view the full 2013 BBWAA balloting, including individual voter ballots where available, at http://bbwaa.com/2013/01/13-hof-results/.

Three Pre-Integration Committee electees will be honored on 2013 Induction Weekend, July 26-29 in Cooperstown, New York. Umpire Hank O'Day, New York Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert and 19th-century player Deacon White — who was SABR's Overlooked 19th Century Legend of 2010 — were selected by a 16-person committee that included SABR members Pat Gillick, Roland Hemond, Steve Hirdt, Peter Morris and Tom Simon. In addition, the Hall of Fame will recognize 12 individuals previously counted among its roster of members who never had a formal induction due to wartime restrictions, including Lou Gehrig (1939), Rogers Hornsby (1942) and the entire Old Timers class of 1945.

As you can imagine, the 2013 BBWAA voting results touched off a vigorous debate this week on SABR-L; join in the discussion by subscribing to our daily e-mail listserv at http://sabr.org/about/sabr-l.

Here are some related articles published this week by SABR members on the Hall of Fame election we thought you might enjoy:

The SABR Analytics Conference, presented by Major League Baseball and Bloomberg Sports, announces its 2013 General Managers Panel. This panel will discuss how major league front offices are using analytics to develop a competitive edge and stay ahead of their competition. Time and date TBA.

The General Managers Panel will include:

Jon Daniels, General Manager, Texas Rangers

Rick Hahn, Senior VP/General Manager, Chicago White Sox

Jed Hoyer, Executive VP/General Manager, Chicago Cubs

The 2013 SABR Analytics Conference will be held Thursday, March 7 through Saturday, March 9 at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown, 340 North 3rd Street, Phoenix, AZ 85004. Click here to book your room online or call (602) 262-2500 and tell them you're registering for the SABR Analytics Conference.

The new SABR Analytics Research Awards will recognize baseball researchers who have completed the best work of original analysis or commentary during the preceding calendar year in the following categories:

Contemporary Baseball Analysis: Honoring the best analysis focusing on a subject related to the modern game(s), team(s) or player(s).

Contemporary Baseball Commentary: Honoring the best commentary focusing on a subject related to the modern game(s), team(s) or player(s).

Historical Baseball Analysis/Commentary: Honoring the best original analysis or commentary focusing on a subject related to a game(s), team(s) or player(s) throughout baseball history.

Works of "Analysis" will be judged on the following criteria: thorough examination of the subject matter; originality of research; factual accuracy; significance in advancing our understanding of baseball.

Works of "Commentary" will be judged on the following criteria: distinguished writing; profound insight; factual accuracy; significance in advancing our understanding of baseball.

A work can be in any format except books, including but not limited to articles, columns, blog posts, television, film, websites, spreadsheets or databases, but it must have been first published in the preceding calendar year. No unpublished work will be considered. No work published, in part or in whole, prior to the preceding calendar year will be considered.

No work will be considered in more than one category.

Nominations will be solicited by representatives from SABR, Baseball Prospectus, FanGraphs and The Hardball Times. Please send your nominations to Jacob Pomrenke at the SABR office. SABR will choose the final 3-4 nominees in each category, from the list submitted by each group. Voting for the winners will be conducted online at SABR.org, BaseballProspectus.com, FanGraphs.com and HardballTimes.com, with results weighted equally at 25%.

Results will be announced and presented at the second annual SABR Analytics Conference, March 7-9, 2013, at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown in Phoenix, Arizona. Learn more or register for the conference at SABR.org/analytics.

The fourth annual SABR Day is coming up soon: January 26, 2013. We're compiling details now on 2013 SABR Day chapter meetings around the country. We'll post them as soon as we get them at SABR.org/sabrday.

Regional SABR meetings are open to all baseball fans and are usually free to attend, so bring a friend! Guest speakers often include current and former baseball players, managers, umpires, executives, scouts, writers and authors.

To view event details for a SABR Day meeting near you, check out our SABR Day map at SABR.org/sabrday for more information.

In Cuba, due to a labor dispute, the old Cuban National League was no more, replaced by a player-led league, the Cuban National Association. The players of the three former clubs–Almendares, Fe, and Habana—reorganized themselves into teams called Almendares Park, Habana Park, and San Francisco Park, presumably unable to use the old team names for legal reasons.

In 1914/15 Fe, despite hiring Spot Poles, Dick Redding, and several other black players from the United States, had finished with an abject 5-28 record. So it probably seemed safe for San Francisco Park, the team that took Fe’s place, to dispense with the Americans and add Eustaquio Pedroso, perhaps the most valuable player in Cuban baseball the past couple of winters. But Pedroso soon switched back to Almendares Park and San Francisco Park lost 21 out of 22 games, whereupon the league sent to the United States for Rube Foster and his Chicago American Giants to replace them. Foster’s team, still playing under the San Francisco name, won 5 and lost 9 before returning to the U.S., and a thrown-together outfit lost the club’s last three scheduled games. Altogether, the three different versions of San Francisco Park fielded a total of 56 players.

Despite the cosmetic name changes, Almendares and Habana fielded similar teams to their 1914/15 editions. Habana Park again featured mostly players from organized baseball in the U.S., including major leaguers Armando Marsans and Mike González, but lost the pennant to Almendares Park. The eventual champions starred Cristóbal Torriente (.401/.491/.562), Manuel Cueto (.403/.481/.493), Gervasio González (.370/.517/.407, with a league-leading 32 walks), and Dolf Luque (12-5, 2.80), along with the two-way threat Pedroso, who hit .451 and went 9-2 as a pitcher after leaving San Francisco Park for Almendares.

This would be the last winter season in old Almendares Park, which was torn down and replaced by a new stadium in time for the 1918/19 season.

Our additions to the DB also bring us back to the start of Joe Williams’s career at the age of 21, with the San Antonio Black Bronchos in 1907, playing for the Southern black championship against C. I. Taylor’s Birmingham Giants.

The fifth annual Frederick Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Base Ball Conference will be held April 19-20, 2013, at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

The conference will be highlighted by a special session with Richard Hershberger, “The Two Faces of Baseball’s Creation Myth”; a panel discussion with John Thorn, Peter Morris and Eric Miklich, “The Evolution of the Pitching/Catching Battery”; an artifact presentation from Hall of Fame Librarian Jim Gates; a Member Spotlight interview with author Peter Morris; a keynote address by Tom Shieber of the Baseball Hall of Fame; and the usual high-quality research presentations (TBA).

Conference Registration is open to all SABR members and up to two non-SABR family members or friends (18 years old or over). See Registration Form for “Welcoming Dinner”, “Luncheon Only” and “Post Conference Gathering” options.

Registrations can be accepted by mail only. Send completed 19th-Century Base Ball Conference Registration Form to: Peter Mancuso, 6970 Ely Road, New Hope, PA 18938. Enclose your personal check for the appropriate amount and made payable to: “SABR - 19c BB Conference.” Please, mail prior to April 9, 2013. If you miss the registration mailing deadline to see if space is still available or if other information is required, contact Peter Mancuso: peterplus4@earthlink.net, (215) 862-2887.

Bios on more than just ballplayers: The ambitious goal of the SABR Baseball Biography Project is to publish a full-life biography of every major league player in history. But SABR members write about a lot more than just ballplayers. In addition, we have pages for Ballparks, Broadcasters, Executives, Managers, Scouts, Spouses, Umpires and a lot more on the BioProject website. You can browse all of these categories at http://sabr.org/bioproj/browse. So if you've ever thought, "Hey, that person (or ballpark) should get the full BioProject treatment" — write the story and we'll publish it!

Get involved! If you'd like to help contribute to the SABR BioProject, visit our BioProject Resources page or read the FAQs section to get started. We're also looking to expand the BioProject to include all "encyclopedic" articles on baseball-related subjects from past SABR publications or committee newsletters. If you come across an article you think should be included in the SABR "baseball repository" at the BioProject, send a copy or link to markarmour04@gmail.com or jpomrenke@sabr.org.

Emerald Guide to Baseball editors seeking volunteers

The editors of SABR's The Emerald Guide to Baseball 2013 are seeking two volunteers to serve as proofreaders and fact-checkers for the annual book of record published by SABR.There is an immediate need for the volunteers and most of the work would be completed in January.If you are looking for a way to get involved in important research — with some coaching — and you are conscientious, contact Gary Gillette at baseballist@247baseball.com or Rod Nelson at rodericnelson@gmail.com.

The Emerald Guide to Baseball, edited by Gary Gillette and Pete Palmer with Rod Nelson and Ted Turocy, is the most comprehensive record of the previous baseball season.

Historically, the primary purpose of annual baseball guides has been the publication of the official league standings plus the official team and individual statistics for both Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball. Our new Emerald Guide follows faithfully in that tradition, containing the official batting, pitching, and fielding statistics for every team and every player in the Major Leagues plus extensive lists of league leaders.

SABR Baseball Research Award, due 1/31/2013: The SABR Baseball Research Award (formerly the Sporting News-SABR Baseball Research Award) honors those whose outstanding research projects completed during the preceding calendar year have significantly expanded our knowledge or understanding of baseball. To submit a nomination for the 2012 awards, please contact Steve Gietschier at sgietsch@gmail.com.

Ron Gabriel Award, due 1/31/2013: The Ron Gabriel Award annually honors the author(s) of the best research, published or unpublished, on the subject of the Brooklyn Dodgers completed during the preceding calendar year. Eligible works include but are not limited to magazine and journal articles, previously unpublished chapters or articles in anthologies or other books with multiple authors, unpublished research papers, written versions of oral presentations, books, databases and websites. To submit a nomination for the 2012 awards, please contact Stephanie Liscio at stephanieliscio@yahoo.com.

We've heard your feedback: Some of you have said you look forward to "This Week in SABR" every Friday, but sometimes there are just too many compelling articles and announcements to read every week. We're not complaining — hey, keep up the great work! — but we know the feeling. So in an effort to make the length of this newsletter more manageable to read, we'll summarize some of the repeating/recurring announcements in a special "In Case You Missed It (ICYMI)" section of "This Week in SABR" starting today.

Here are some major headlines from recent weeks that we don't want you to miss:

Did you know you can renew your membership at any time? 1- and 3-year SABR memberships are available by clicking "Renew" at http://members.sabr.org. Please also consider a donation to SABR to support baseball research at SABR.org/donate.

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